By:
• Chhum Chantha

• November 10, 2024 , 6:00 PM

PURSAT — More than 10,000 metric tons of wastes are produced each day in the country, which amounts to nearly 4 million metric tons per year. Meanwhile, Phnom Penh produces from 3,000-to-5,000 metric tons daily.

Of these, around 60 percent are food wastes, 20 percent plastics, and the rest rubber, papers, and wood wastes, Ministry of Environment spokesperson Khvay Atitya said on Nov. 7 during a press tour.

The quantity of general and plastic wastes are increasing, he said.

In response to this rise, the ministry has urged the public, businesspeople, and the private sector to contribute to plastic-use reduction, particularly by taking part in the “Today, I Don’t Use Plastic Bags” and the “Clean Cambodia! Khmer Can Do!” campaigns.

Included in the ministry’s 5-year Circular Strategy on the Environment, the campaigns have involved more than 9.6 million participants since September 2023. They have taken part in collecting wastes, managing their trash, cleaning houses, schools and pagodas from plastics, and picking up plastics along the streets.

The ministry is also encouraging the local and international private sectors to invest in recycling wastes into organic fertilizer, fuel, and other materials that can be re-used.

Originally written in Khmer for ThmeyThmey, this story was translated by Meng Seavmey for Cambodianess.